Save Bertie Park Oxford

In Praise of Bertie Park

Last week was “Love Parks Week” in Oxford. Does OCC love Bertie Park?

Oxford’s green spaces have many functions: environmental, economic, health and wellbeing etc. In 2022 Oxford City Council carried out a study of its Green Infrastructure (here). This picked out Bertie Park as special. Even though small, it is “multi-functional.” Bertie is estimated to have an annual welfare benefit of up to £250k which means e.g. avoided health costs. This makes sense. Bertie Park was established 80 years ago when Oxford City Council realised that “it is cheaper to keep a well-developed and healthy community fit, than to cure the sickly inhabitants of congested areas by expensive hospital treatment.”

Nurses relaxing at the Littlemore Hospital, Oxford, 1930s. (© Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire History Centre, POX016605)

Today there is just not enough space for more parks. OCC want instead to focus on improving what we have. But they are dead-set on down-grading Bertie Park. Meanwhile, OCC have once again delayed their decision on whether they can go ahead and appropriate the land on Bertie Park. The chart shows all the meetings where Bertie Park was supposed to be on the agenda, then dropped:

OCC runs out of excuses

Once again, OCC put off making a decision about Bertie Park.

Section 122 of the 1972 Local Government Act and the National Planning and the UK National Policy Planning Framework both protect recreation grounds. OCC’s current proposals for Bertie Park don’t follow the local plan. The Environment Agency say that they are unlikely to grant a permit.

Before they can do anything, OCC needs to appropriate the land. They say that this is “just a paper exercise”, that they just need to move the land from one budget to another. But it is not that easy. In November 23 there were “legal issues”. In April of this year there were “a couple of things” to sign off. In May it was the general election.

Now, they haven’t even given us an excuse.

Bertie Park and the sewage problem

Our sewerage system cannot cope. Thames Water discharged sewage into the Thames 16,990 times in 2023. Many members of the Save Bertie Park campaign worry that building houses on Bertie Park could only make things worse.

Two organisations could act to stop Thames Water from discharging sewage. One is the Environment Agency. This article from 2012 shows how the agency used to function. The environment agency was then de-fanged by the Conservatives. They cut its funding and said it should not stand in the way of growth. This article from 2024 shows how much things have changed.

The other organisation that could help is Oxford City Council. When granting planning permission for 134 homes near St Frideswide Farm, Oxford City Council added a planning condition that the new homes should not be occupied until there was capacity to deal with the extra sewage. A scheme for upgrading the Sandford sewage works is due for completion in 2027. Even though it is still being designed, in April of this year OCC said that the new homes at St Frideswide could be occupied. See here for further details.

Does this mean that “planning conditions” are not worth the paper they are written on?

Can we both grow Oxford AND solve our housing crisis?

Do we have to live with shit in our rivers, gardens and homes?

Bertie Park loses a cherry tree

This week there was concern when Oxford City Council had to cut down one of Bertie Park’s cherry trees.

It is sad, but the tree had been condemned. You can see below a large hole in the side of the trunk, filled with gunge. The tree stump has a orange powdery mess in the middle.

This happens at a difficult time. We are still waiting to find out when Oxford City Council will decide whether they can appropriate the park. After many cancellations, there is now a question mark over whether this will happen in July.

Bertie Park decision delayed again!

Oxford City Countil Cabinet have dropped Bertie Park from the agenda for their June 12^th meeting. They don’t want to rock the boat in the run up to the general election.

Government guidance (here) is that councils should “not publish any material which, in whole or in part, appears to be designed to affect public support for a political party.” The big test is “could a reasonable person conclude that you are spending public money to influence the outcome of the election?”

This means that “councils are allowed to continue with normal business, including determining planning applications, even if they are controversial.”

Deciding whether to appropriate Bertie Park is not a game of politics, but a matter of law. If the cabinet decides that it is unable to meet the conditions set out in section 122 of the 1972 Local Government Act, this will not be controversial, but embarrassing.

New date July 10th.

The big decision

Oxford City Council will meet on to decide whether to appropriate the land on Bertie Park for planning purposes. They have said that appropriation is simply moving land from “one budget to another” …. a “paper exercise.”

But it has real consequences for our community. It is the difference between having a recreation ground and not having a recreation ground. To appropriate Bertie Park, OCC will have to meet conditions set out by section 122 of the 1972 local government Act. They will have to:

Show that Bertie Park is no longer needed
“Properly and conscientiously” consider the community’s responses to their consultation.

Last time that OCC cabinet was due to make this decision, the Bertie Park campaign raised legal issues which stopped them in their tracks.

Should residents be responsible for checking the legality of the council’s actions?

Does Oxford City Council have to follow the law?

Oxford City Council are bending over backwards trying NOT to follow this Government policy:

Existing recreational land, should not be built on unless the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location; or the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the benefits of which clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use.

They are bending over backwards NOT to follow this law:

A principal council may not appropriate any land consisting an open space unless before appropriating the land they … (properly!!) consider any objections to the proposed appropriation which may be made to them.

OCC want to build hundreds of new houses in this area. Getting rid of the only recreation ground we have makes no sense.

Come to the cabinet meeting on 12^th June to watch OCC explain their decision.

Watch OCC make this important decision!

On June 12th OCC will decide whether to appropriate Bertie Park Recreation Ground for building. Not exciting? If they can’t appropriate, it stops them in their tracks!

“Appropriation” is a legal procedure described in s122 of the 1972 Local Government Act. Even if a local authority already owns a recreation ground, they must appropriate it first before they can build on it.

The law says that they must take into account our objections. The cabinet was supposed to make a decision last November. Many turned up to watch, but they took it off the agenda at the last minute after they read what we had to say.

Now they have told us that they will decide at the cabinet meeting in June.

What do the candidates say about Bertie Park?

40 people attended the Hustings at St Lukes on Friday 26th. With Anna Railton (Labour), Ben Christopher (Oxford Independent Alliance), Nuala Young (Green Party) and Rick Tanner (Lib-dem) all present, there was lively discussion of many topics. These included flooding, sewage problems and the Grandpont cycle bridge.

Here’s what the candidates said about Bertie Park: